Gallery

Zone 2

Frontispiece to the Letters of Ignatious Sancho, An African... 1782

The long campaign to abolish both the slave trade and slavery itself begins with an emphasis on the importance of African resistance to this process. The campaign is explored by focusing on different elements. The vital contribution of the publications of African writers like Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley are acknowledged, and you will be able to see some of the materials produced to publicise the campaign including purses, sugar bowls, pamphlets and prints.

Sugar bowl, 1825

The questionable logo of the kneeling, chained African is reinterpreted by members of the local African-Caribbean community who have produced their own campaign slogans which are displayed on sugar bowls in the gallery.

You will also be able to see a stunning banner produced in about 1833 to protest against the attempt to perpetuate slavery under the guise of compulsory ‘apprenticeships’, and the actual table used to draft the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery.

This section of the gallery finishes by inviting you to consider how both slavery and abolition contributed to Imperialist ideas in the 19th century.


See the actual table used to draft the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery


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